Southcoast Insurance Agents Association donates to drive out hunger

Sunday

Apr 8, 2018 at 3:01 AM

The Southcoast Insurance Agents Association (SIAA), on behalf of its 41 member independent insurance agencies announced it has donated $1,000 to three area organizations as part of the Arbella Insurance Foundation’s Let’s Drive Out Hunger program.

Donations were made to First Step In, Standard-Times Neediest Families Fund, and Our Daily Bread.

One organization was chosen in each of SIAA’s anchor Bristol County cities, Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, respectively.

Along with SIAA, the Arbella Insurance Foundation donated $2,000 to bring the total donation to $3,000. Now in its 10th year, Let’s Drive Out Hunger aims to alleviate the prevalent issue of food insecurity in New England. The Arbella Insurance Foundation collects contributions from any of Arbella Insurance Group’s nearly 500 partner independent agents and matches each donation on a two-to-one basis – up to $1,000 per agency. Over the past nine years, the Arbella Insurance Foundation and independent agents have contributed more than $940,000 to more than 400 emergency food programs, soup kitchens, food pantries and homeless shelters throughout New England. This year, the program aims to exceed its $1 million goal of giving.

“According to 2016 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 41.2 million people across the country live in food-insecure households — that number is staggering,” said Rosemary Neto Hazzard, president of SIAA. “Hunger is a persistent issue in all of our local communities and we are proud to donate to these fine organizations to help families in Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton overcome food insecurity. We encourage all other local businesses to follow suit.”

The severity of hunger continues to affect thousands of families across New England. According to the USDA, 13 percent of households in Connecticut and more than 10 percent in New Hampshire suffer from hunger and food insecurity. Fifty-six thousand families in Rhode Island lack adequate food. In Massachusetts, research shows that almost 10 percent of households struggle to find and provide healthy meals.

“The Arbella Insurance Foundation is dedicated to fighting hunger in the local communities we serve,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman of Arbella’s Foundation. “As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Let’s Drive Out Hunger program, we’re thrilled to be quickly nearing our goal of raising one million dollars; but we couldn’t do it without our independent agents. We’re so proud of the wonderful work they’re doing to drive out hunger and we’re dedicated to supporting them by maximizing their contributions to help local families in need.”

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